Free market?

SPA, FTA, EPA TPP…... (whatever other). What exactly are they? For me, one of the lowest income people (on DSP because of my stroke with aphasia) I don't see these things working for this country. Or any country in this globe. Why?

Back in the 1910s, 1920s, 1930s and 1940s this world had WW1 and WW2. What was it? That was wars fought by men who registered with their country army, navy or airforce. In WW1 that war was 'sold' to men, who never realised that it meant death. Their death. Those who registered for WW2 thought the same, didn't have to be scripted. At least, that was Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and USA. France had two armies – for and against either the western armies or the German army. Germany's army fought for their Fuehrer, Hilter – the “greatest Nazi”, according to top military who never went to the war front.

Italy started with Mussolini who fought for Hitler. Russia joined with USA, but after WW2 they built their own wall. There were a lot of other countries throughout Europe which supported Hitler or supported Great Britain's Churchill. The Jews, caught in the middle by Hitler, were killed during the Holocaust. Or caught a boat to Palestine, which later became Israel.

Japan fought for themselves. They lost.

WW2 ended in 1945, but other wars throughout the globe sprung up, finished, rebuilt, restarted, finished and started new. Korea, Viet Nam, South Africa, Sudan, Slovakia, Columbia, Faulkland Islands, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea... so many more. Have a look up Wikipaedia. Might have you crying.

And who ran – run - these wars? Men. Men still do. Men with money, billions, who supply weapons, paid, rich. Is this connected with SPAs, FTAs, EPAs and TPPs or are wars definitely separate?

The SPAs, FTAs, EPAs and TPPs still carry on, supposed to be “free market” trading. Australia has a TPPA with Canada, USA, Mexico, Chile, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam and Japan. The list on the “About FTAs” page includes Chile, China (ChFTA), European Union, Gulf Cooperation Council, Hong Kong, India (CECA), Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand (AANZFTA), Peru, Singapore, Thailand and USA. It talks about “global trade liberalisation” and “increas(ing) economic integration between participating countries”. Didn't know about this? Have a read – don't think I'm making it all up!

So where do those within this country who are in poverty – beneficiaries, low-paid workers, those who can only get casual or part-time work – fit in with all of this? I really don't know... we're not even mentioned on the dfat website. Nowhere except Centrelink which complains that we suck money out of them. To end up in poverty.... yeah, right. It seems Centrelink just doesn't know.

FTAs have come around in the 1800s, fell over during the Great Depression, and now set up in this 21^st century. Michael Priestley in 2008 wrote “At the time of the Asian financial crisis in 1997/98 there were only six FTAs in the Asia-Pacific region. At the end of 2006, there were more than 60 FTA projects in various stages of development or negotiation.” Some of the Australian FTAs were set up since 2003, many more are being negotiated since 2008. Priestley questioned these agreements in his conclusion: “In light of the current experience it is questionable whether Australia’s FTAs, on a country by country basis, can speed up trade liberalisation by delivering benefits to Australian producers faster than through the multilateral processes.” Yet dfat is still going ahead.

Very recently, whilst building the Perth's child hospital, wall panels were imported from China. They were installed before anyone noticed the difference – and they included asbestos. Construction was stopped. The project still hasn't been finished. No-one seems to know when exactly it will. The contractor, John Holland, walked away from it. The CFMEU has called for a ban on those panels. No one who is supposed to monitor products imported on FTAs has paid attention to this.

And where we export to – say, China,Japan – where they accept our product as imports, we should have the benefit of no tariffs, definitely not hidden tariffs.

So how can those people like me, beneficiaries, fit in with all of this? It seems Centrelink just doesn't know about this, either.

To ensure that SPAs, FTAs, EPAs and TPPs work, to ensure that the increase of export and import increases employment, to ensure that many people – beneficiaries – right now just don't have any ability to create employment, no matter how often they attend the Centrelink contractor, this government should be – MUST be – looking at how well this country is doing from these agreements. I don't care who gets rich, but I definitely care about every person who ends up out of work, in Centrelink, abused by government staff and not – ever – treated like a REAL person.

Success isn't just for the people who own a company.

Alive in Hamilton

When I was born, 1956, Hamilton had a population of 35,941 (according to the Familypaedia). Now Hamilton is the fourth populated city in NZ, and in 2016 had an urban population of 193,600 and a metro population of 230,000. That meant a lot to me when I lived there. Brisbane felt like a 'huge' city, with a population which, when I moved here in 2006, was 1,180,285. By 2016 the Brisbane population almost doubled, to 2,209,453 – now 10 times greater than Hamilton! But I had a place I really enjoyed, before I moved.

One of my favourite places in Hamilton was the theatre where Hamilton Operatic Society was based - the Drury Lane Theatre. It was a small, very comfortable theatre with a jovial chef and happy front-of-house volunteers. The society had been around since 1904, and they hung very old pictures from various shows around the back offices. Their “Previous Shows” page lists the first public performance as The Geisha Girl in 1914.

I started there in 1995, just after I watched Dad working as Assistant Stage Mechanist on The Merry Widow in another theatre that HOS used. I was in HOS for 18 years; I loved theatre and worked in many different positions... I was Props Manager for Evita, Annie, Sound of Music and many others; Assistant Stage Manager for Les Miserables; backstage hand; front-of-house helper, working as a waitress for meal shows or in the snack bar. I sought, painted, cut, sewed, stuffed and made props, managed the props room downstairs - under the stage. I helped performers to change their costumes on the side of stage. My Dad was Stage Mechanist, and I'd often help him if he needed it. 

HOS had built the theatre in the 1950s when the land had been gifted to them. In the 1970s they added on a fly tower, and in the 1980s they rebuilt the auditorium to accommodate more people. The funds for this was given to Drury Lane Theatre by the Trustbank. The theatre was renamed the Trustbank Community Theatre, later changed again to the WestpacTrust Community Theatre, and sold to HCC in 1997. In 2015 the name was finally changed to the Clarence St Theatre.

Founders Theatre, the city theatre, was opened in November 1962, and became the HOS location for some of the large shows, such as The Merry Widow, Evita, Les Miserables, Annie, Sound of Music, My Fair Lady and West Side Story. In March 2016 Founders Theatre was closed due to some fly tower safety issues, and the HCC is discussing finance to rebuild a new theatre to take over Founders.

One of my favourite – ever – stage shows was The Rocky Horror Show. I saw it in Hamilton, again in Auckland, and over here in Brisbane. Richard O'Brien wasn't based at HOS, but the HCC council knew how many people in Hamilton loved TRHS – there'd be late evening outside approval for screen shows, and people would turn up in costumes and join in the songs. In 2004 HCC put a bronze statute of O'Brien as Riff Raff from the show, in Victoria St just where the old Embassy theatre used to be, and O'Brien was photographed beside that recently. His TRHS was successfully done by HOS in 2005 and again late 2016, and he also filled the Fagin role in the 2012 HOS stage show of Oliver. 

 

O'Brien has been the Patron of HOS since 2009. 

HOS has done some of the same shows that I've watched in Brisbane, including The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and Cats (I saw that first in 1988 in Melbourne and again fairly recently in Brisbane). They did some more than once (for instance, Les Miserables 1995, 2001 and 2017, Oliver 1990 and 2012, The Merry Widow 1985 and 1994, Tell Me on a Sunday 2000 and 2015).

Living now in Brisbane has never really introduced me to a theatre. Sure, for a year between 2013-14, I was involved with the front-of-house staff of La Boite theatre in Kelvin Grove, but after my stroke in 2014 I couldn't go back. I don't really miss that.

But I do still miss the Hamilton Operatic Society – and the old Drury Lane Theatre. 18 years, there often, my name in programmes... I was always alive, there, in Hamilton.

 

Tesla and Elon Musk – how do they fit?

A couple of days ago, 18 May, Julie Carrie Wong wrote from Fremont, California (USA), about the staff from the Tesla factory. They were not being paid much – its 10,000 human workers only getting paid around $22 each hour. Too many of them got hurt at work, according to the article. This was not a good read, and yet, looking into the history of Tesla, it sounds – to me – that this situation has changed very recently. Elon Musk, the CEO, says its “factory safety record has significantly improved over the last year.” Will these people be working for more money and less work in this future company?

Tesla was founded in 2003 and the first of its cars, the Tesla Roadster, was produced in the Fremont assembly facility in 2008. Today the company is valued at $50 billion, much provided by shareholders.

Motoring wrote, in 2014, about the release of the Tesla Model S in Australia, priced in excess of $96k. In 2016/17 the Model X SUV was available in Aus, with “falcon wing doors”. It was (is) available for $111,900 or more, according to Car Advice. They then reported that the Tesla Model 3, the “new People's Car”, was to be released in Aus in 2018 for around $60k.

How is Tesla working out in Aus, when they aren't even made in Aus? How do they compare to, say, GM – Holden, which used to be made in Aus? Some Holdens had been made entirely here since 1948, but by 20 October 2017 they say they'll be finished up here. (Have look at the other article dated 5 December2013.)

In 2015 there were some races between the Tesla Model S P85D and Australia's fastest four-door sedans, the Supercheap Auto Racing Holden Commodore V8 Supercar and the Walkinshaw Performance W507 HSV GTS. The Tesla won. In 2016 Car Review gave the Model S reviews 8.5; they jumped up in 2017 to 9. If you're interested or are possibly thinking of leasing or buying, have a look at their review page.

Elon Musk is a billionaire. He was one of the co-founders of Tesla in 2003. They built a powertrain for a sports car around the Nikolas Tesla AC induction motor, patented in 1888, and it went into the Tesla Roadster in 2008. Previously Musk had co-founded PayPal, which was sold and is now the world's leading internet payment system. He had also founded the SpaceX company in 2002. In Feb 2013 he was videoed at his TED talk about SpaceX, Tesla and SolarCity. Sydney Morning Herald wrote yesterday about Musk “...building brain-computer interface to protect against AI singularity”.

So, with Musk juggling three companies, how does Tesla come into the present against GM Holden? And BMW, Porsches, Mercedes, Nissan, Mazda, Toyota and so many other car manufacturers? Well, according to the funding timeline in Wikipaedia, they started making money in April 2004, nearly went bankrupt in November 2008, and has since then become a successful car manufacturer. The Consumer Report, also mentioned in Wikipaedia, “ranks Tesla as the top American car brand and the 8th among global carmakers.” 

That sounds quite a bit different to what Musk had said about the capital value of his company in the Wong's article at the top of this post: market capitalisation of Tesla of more than $50 billion is unwarranted; it produces just 1% of GM’s total output; it is a money-losing company. Yet they are now reporting improvement in their workplace safety. If that keeps happening, if their staff received more – much better – income, then maybe the despair could vanish.

Electric cars are – must be - the future. Aus's Car Review gave some very good reviews of the Tesla, and to quadruple the manufacturing of the car for 2018 might just make that company an eye-opener for every other manufacturer.

That's a pretty excellent sounding electric car and the Tesla company future.

Money money money

Many years ago I found out that Mum had a credit card on which she had overspent. I can't remember whether it was a bank credit card or her Farmers store card, which I still look at as a credit card. Dad had found out what was on the bill and had paid it off, with a promise from Mum that she would never overspend like that. I had been surprised by Mum's spending, because she had always seem to me to be a careful person.

I should never have felt that way, because really she was never different. Her overspending told of her situation where too much happened in that short time – every six months, between September and February, she bought for 5 birthdays, celebrations, funerals, christmas for around 17 people, just whatever she would buy at Farmers for a rather large family. Probably her debt was her Farmers card.

With my first husband, and much later my second husband, I became very conscious about how much was being spent. After my young family came to Expo88 in Brisbane in 1988, I paid for it because my first husband had excuses which I inevitably allowed. After we separated not too long after that, I was declared bankrupt. Not at all my choice, but I had taken on the responsible for our family debt. During my 11 years as a single parent I never overspent.

With my second husband, overspending became a habit and I didn't become aware of it for too long. He spent so much on the equipment he embraced with his contractor work – tipper, trucks, other stuff. I worked, but most of what I earned was spent on what we were doing to decorate our home. We built the front gardens up into tiers with timber walls and stones in the garden, built a large carport on the backyard, put in an electric door on the car garage, concreted our driveway, stripped and rebuilt the kitchen, tiled the floors, rebuilt the ground level guest room, redecorated the bathroom and painted, painted and painted. Three years later we lost that home due to my husband losing his principle contract. I suspect that started my depression.

My credit card was never as high as his, but it did get to $25k. We didn't make any real money from the house sale, but 5 years later, after paying as much as I could, I ended up in hospital in 2014 for my brain aneurysm surgery and my stroke with aphasia. I felt very grateful that CBA agreed to cancel my credit card and my debt – probably because I'd ended up on DSP, a very low income with which I couldn't have paid that debt.

Too many people in this country – in the 'western' world – live either on very low incomes or in poverty. Most of those on Centrelink benefits are in poverty, and most of them are not there by their own choice. My DSP is about a third of what I used to earn. I so often wished I'd never been in hospital, never had a stroke, but right now I thank Centrelink and NZ for DSP. I can't even work like I used to.

In March 2016 the RMIT ABC's Fact Check website reported on Bill Shorten's speech which said that 2.5 million Australians were living in poverty, and one quarter of those were children. Fact Check found that to be correct. ACOSS said, in October 2016, that the number had gone up to 2.9 million.

Who's in the ACOSS inequality factsheet? Older people. Solo parents. Single people. People without paid work. People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Unbelievable? Check out their link!

I found a blog called The BorgenProject, which according to the Huffington Post "...is an incredible nonprofit organization that is addressing poverty and hunger and working towards ending them." Their blog is stuff I would usually talk about myself, but their link is here. Go read.

There's an Anti-Poverty week later this year – 15-21 October 2017. The anti-poverty website says: “Anti-Poverty Week was founded by the Social Justice Project in the Law Faculty of the University of New South Wales and the National Office has been based there since 2004. The Law Faculty generously provides a work space and use of office equipment.” The website has a lot of information which every person should read. It might seem early to see this information, but if you can help, time will help you. Look through their lists of organisations which will help. They're in every state – different organisations, different people, same goal.

Newspoll's 'State of Play' written on 15 May 2017 said that if an election was held today, Labor would win. This reflects how I feel about this government. Our election should be now, not in the future. We can suffer far too much in that time.

Poverty must be fixed up. No-one asks to live there. Unfortunately I'm damned sure that no politician would ever understand what it really feels like to live there.

Work safety – still okay?

Yesterday, for the first time in nearly 4 years, I got to a meeting held by the Safety Institute of Australia (SIA) at the Windsor International Hotel on the north side of Brisbane. I had just recently rejoined SIA (assisted by Natalie, my supporter at Mylestone) when my previous membership had expired shortly after I was in hospital 3 years ago. I had no idea who I would see at this meeting, and if anyone would remember me.

The afternoon started with 3 workgroups who would look at issues – I chose #2, “Safety Leadership Differently – implications and shifting your thinking”. I was in too deep water here, because I didn't understand – until about half way through it – that Naomi Kemp from UQ, who presented it, didn't intend on training the SIA members. Perhaps I could have suggested that, but it's only me who hasn't worked in safety for four years.

Kemp described H&S in UQ as a 'negative connotation'. They would need to, she said, change the word 'pro-active' because that's not an acceptable word. She said that her training would be to talk about how work is done, not specifically safety. Perhaps that's how I feel.

Back into the main meeting, the gentleman leading it said that Queensland SIA meetings were “the best in Australia”. He reminded me of how SIA had almost fallen over 6-7 years ago. I remembered that, very much so. I used to have arguments with SIA on their forums, and I didn't ever see SIA as academic rather than work-related. It seems that SIA has now changed to become a lot more focussed. Good for them.

The main topic for the meeting was asbestos – which had originally drawn me in. My previous ex-manager had contact with asbestos from many years ago, before it was banned in this country. His lungs are poor. A friend I made in the Bethania retirement village also had asbestos and very bad lungs. He killed himself by not eating. I really feel that was what he wanted to do. Neither of those people had 'normal' lives – perhaps anyone interested can check out the government website or the awareness website I've read.

Paul Watts, a government WHS person, spoke about asbestos and construction workers. The numbers employed in construction has grown in 10 years – it was 753k in 2003, but 1,030k in 2013: a 37% increase.

The second speaker, Malcolm Burgin (I remembered him from years ago) now runs his OCCSafe company not just in Australia but in a number of areas overseas. He is possibly one of the global-top people who know about asbestos. I had recently read articles about asbestos wall panels from China which had ended up in Perth's children hospital – which wasn't 'discovered' until too late. Burgin says there are environmental issues and safety issues in that situation. So far it's cost the 'new' children's hospital an extra $14m – and that's 8 months after they were supposed to have finished the actual building, but it's got more potential review on the other stuff: i.e., lead pipes carrying water. Also bought from China. And it isn't, at the moment, fire insulated – it missed out earlier this year after the rebuilding. So far the Perth children's hospital building commission has a report in draft. It would be interesting to read that.

The Border Force should be knowledgeable about things such as these asbestos panels from China – they are labelled, too. Unfortunately, they didn't know anything about anything which contains asbestos – and they didn't check anything until they were pretty much threated by the CFMEU, whose members would walk off the hospital site until it was sorted. There are other departments or organisations which should be able to prosecute companies which have imported asbestos, but so far they haven't actioned. They don't even have linkage together! This includes:

• Border Force 
• Asbestos Eradication Agency 
• Safe Work Australia 
• State Regulators  and
• Building Commission

According to Wikipaedia, “Asbestosis is a chronic inflammatory and scarring disease affecting the tissue of the lungs.” Most people don't know about asbestos, asbestosis or mesothelioma which is the actual cancer suffered by people who have had contact with asbestos.

The Australian Asbestos Network has their own website, with history about sites where asbestos was mined from the 1930s. AAN said about Wittenoom, in WA, possibly the largest asbestos mine, that “Asbestos was everywhere in Wittenoom and the workers were exposed to it whether at work or at play”. This mine sold the asbestos on to CSR – a large sugar company with no mining experience – who ran it from 1943-66.

Baryulgil, in NSW, was a small chrysotile asbestos mine. James Hardie, which is still in business in Australia, was a subsidiary in 1944 and owned the mine from 1953-76. AAN told that “Dust permeated workers’ houses, and women and children were fully exposed”, and “Children played in the tailings and on the mine site itself”.

In Latrobe Valley in Victoria an electricity production was set up in the 1920s, and the town of Yallourn was built from most asbestos products. AAN said: “Asbestos, with its strength, durability and resistance to heat, was used quite widely at the time in household and everyday products, including asbestos cement sheets, building materials, roofing, plastics, textiles, floor tiles and clutch and break linings.” Hazelwood Power Station still stands, but Yallourn was bulldozed to allow coal mining in the area. 140,000 Latrobe Valley workers were exposed to asbestos between 1920s-80s, and too many of them contract mesothelioma “at seven times the state average”.

The SIA meeting was very well organised. I am aware that my own interest was hooked when I read what they would talk about. That topic interested me because I had been very aware of asbestos for years, even though I have never been in contact with it. I even knew a woman, in the Ulysses club I was a member of years ago, who worked at James Hardie. Her employment surprised me, but I couldn't have changed her opinion if I'd even tried.

I thank SIA for bringing asbestos to discussion at their meeting. It would be interesting to know if people who don't know about asbestos would read this and links and find out for themselves.

Unwritten Battles

The Mighty on Facebook, which I joined a while ago, had a story from one of their members, Kirstie Edwards. She wrote in Chronic Illness Community Stories which is published on the Mighty website. I don't think I have chronic illness, but I read it – and I lived with so much of what she has been up against. “Underneath this happy, primary-color-saturated series of pictures... the undertow is pulling.”

Her refresher read very different to her present – “great academic job, big house, three kids, successful”. Her health “rapidly deteriorates, lose job, lose house, found out was pregnant the next day”. Very similar to mine, in different order.

Last November – 2016 – I had been kicked out, illegally, from the retirement village I had lived in for four and a half months. I lost the ability to fight that, I attempted suicide, I ended up in Loganlea Hospital – and the property people changed the locks on my unit, still full of all my stuff. Yes, it was illegal. I was homeless for one full week – more than any time in my 60 years of life. Perhaps Australia has more units/flats/small homes available to someone like me – I got one in Eagleby.

Edwards is homeless - not her own rental agreement, just provided (where available) by her local state department. This is USA. I saw Trump winning the election as despicable. In Australia, I had seen the Abbott/LNP government winning here as despicable. Those governments don't care at all about people on DSP. Some of them are kicked off, many are not accepted. I believe I can thank the ABIOS carer who talked about me at Centrelink – I couldn't talk, back then. It's still hard for me today, yet some people I talk to, even when I stutter or forget words, say I talk good. I don't think that – my speech, my thoughts, are very different than I was used to more than 3 years ago. Sometimes, when I am – so often – very tired, it vanishes altogether, until after I have an afternoon sleep.

Edwards said that her present emergency accommodation is being sold, probably “in part of having been pressured to resolve the mountain of disrepair issues in my home”. A short few weeks ago I received a letter from Harcourts saying they were now the rental agents. My lease was signed with Paul Flynn group as the agent. I heard nothing at all from them since just before then. Last week we had the Harcourts property manager come here for their first inspection. I had a long list of what was wrong with this place – I'd discovered it when I moved in, not before I moved in.

When I had moved in and filled in the moving inspection report I mentioned so much, included photos. Very little's been done, apart from they fixed the step down from outside to my kitchen which had flooded twice, under the door. I fixed some holes in the hallway myself, trying to stop the many ants from crawling around inside my unit, and they had arranged for some anti-pest spraying inside and outside. I have let sprays off inside, twice now; I've only been in here 5.5 months. Why do I feel that this is okay for me? Not at all like other places... except Woody Point. Eagleby's unit is actual much better than that!

Harcourts is actioning some of the repair work. I don't expect the property to be completely fixed, but it should be. Why not?

RTA's page says: “At the start of the tenancy, the property manager/ownert must ensure the premises and inclusions are clean, fit to live in and are in good repair. The property manager/owner must maintain the premises and inclusions in good repair throughout the tenancy.” This unit didn't fulfil that. RTA also said: “The premises and inclusions must comply with health and safety regulations, such as local council regulations, at the start and throughout the tenancy.” The ceiling in this unit is lower than legally required. Why is it? Why hasn't either of the rental agents reported it? Is it seen as my “last essential” place to live in? Even the real estate website gives information. All rental agencies should know this stuff.

Beyond PM website includes a list – quotes from the law – which regards the repair. And according to them the lessor is responsible for pest treatment every year: “It is a contractual term of the management agreement that lessors have their investment property treated for general pest control annually or as required. This pest control is generally for spiders, cockroaches, silverfish and ants.” I also found the section 69 of By-Laws: “Section 69 of the RTRA Act requires that by-laws be provided to tenants when the agreement is given to the tenant for signing . If by-laws under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 or Building Units and Group Titles Act 1980 are to apply to the occupation of premises by a tenant, the lessor or lessor’s agent must give the tenant a copy of the relevant by-laws, when giving the written agreement to the tenant for signing. Maximum penalty—20 penalty units.” My dog should never have been kicked out from the retirement village under their so-called “by-laws”!

Choice's website has a pdf available for an Australian Rental Market Report 2017, which looks at the unsettled area of rental. If you rent, if you are in somewhere not too good, if you know someone living like this, read it.

At the start of this post I said I had read the Kirstie Edwards post for Mighty. She lives in USA, I live in Australia. I was born in NZ, but even NZ was no better. I truly wish I had kept the house that my Dad built for me as a wedding present. My mental illness – my PTSD – held me away from that, because I had to manage how I was living with my first husband. My second husband was no better – how the heck did I agree to marry a second time? I lived in Hamilton, NZ, in the same home for 11 years, single-parenting my two kids. Those 11 years were the best of my life. Nowadays, after my brain aneurysm surgery, my stroke, my loss of language, my loss of friends, my loss of a decent – cheap place to live in because my mental illness took over my life.

I am now in a unit which is certainly not 100% but is the best place where I can keep my dog, Jordie, until she dies. Yes, it needs repairs. Yes, it is probably illegal (low ceiling). I will continue to contact Harcourts for repairs, but right now it's the best place I can be.

 

 

What's a goal?

Recently I watched the Four Corners program about how professional athletes and sports players end up when they don't or can't any longer do sports, through injury, mental illness or their personal future change. I know about that.

In my childhood I swam often. Mum and Dad would take us all to the Hamilton swimming club at the Municipal Pool and we would train, compete and enjoy. I learned diving too. I swam the first mile when I was about 10. I even learned rescuing people in the pool. We'd go on weekend fun days to beaches – Mt Manganui, Waihi, even Raglan in the other direction. Once, at Waihi, I was hit above my left eye with a surfboard. I managed to get back to shore but dad picked me up from the beach and carried me back to safety. I ended up with a swollen eye, but that didn't stop me from swimming.

We went to Mt Maunganui for a family holiday when I was 12. We visited the aquarium on the side of Moturiki Island, accessible from the beach, and my older sister and I looked longingly at the 4 dolphins swimming in the pool. We were the first kids allowed to swim with them! There were also 3 seals and 2 stingrays whose barbed tails had been cut off – thankfully. Our next holiday there was when I was 14, and my sister and I spent so much time in the surf, body surfing into shore. One day there was a warning screamed along the beach that there was a shark out in the sea, close to the shore. My sister and I beat most other people into shore!

At school I played tennis, netball and hockey. Tennis and hockey continued into high school, but I stopped playing hockey and netball when I left school. I swam after school, still in competitions (I won a bottle of sparkling wine when I was 18!). I still played tennis, and learned squash – that was a useful sport in the Army when I enrolled!

A few years later, after leaving the Army, I joined the Masters Swimming Club. We trained in Hamilton, had competitions in Hamilton and in Napier, a bus journey away. I joined a swim from the Tauranga Pilot Bay harbour around Mt Maunganui and finishing on the ocean beach – 4km, apparently! Each swimmer had to have a supporter on a boat not too far away from them. My ex had his boat, but the motor stopped about two thirds around the mount. I kept swimming, but I ended up having to give it up. Very frustrating for me! There are still competitions doing this race and they have a Facebook page.

I gave up all my sports after my first marriage crashed. I lived in my government house for 11 years, single parent supporter of my two kids. They skated – on ice, their competitions and one Christmas event choreographed by me including the hockey ice team skating to Born to be Wild. My son got roller skates when the ice rink shut down. My daughter did jazz and tap dance – I choreographed her competition dances.

Before my second marriage I joined the Les Mills gym and began workouts which worked for me – treadmill for 2kms, then into weights. I became excited with Body Combat - activities from combat set to music. I would go to 8 sessions every week! My present job was just across the road from the gym and I had a split shift, so lunchtime I also went to the gym. My new husband and I moved to Australia in 2005 and I found the Body Combat sessions in gyms in Brisbane, so I went again. In the end I walked away from the new group – not Les Mills – introduced by my then-gym, Healthworks at Sunnybank. (I just checked their website – and they're back into Les Mills Body Combat!)

In 2010 I joined the AJs gym – they had 3 swimming pools! I began swimming again; my laps got up to 80 which was 2 km. I would end up in the larger inside pool most of the time, but occasionally I would have to move outside because there might be a school competition inside. It didn't bother me – I had a goal: Vanuatu in the next few months. They had competitions in the ocean, but the websites I have linked to use their present write-up. It may not be too different from 6 years ago. I would enter the Port Vila program which is in May: “Up to 10 days of varied, tropical swimming and adventuring in Vanuatu”, or Espiritu Santo in June - 2.6km “swim across the Segond Channel, from the main island of Santo to Aore Island”.

I took my oldest grandson to AJs to learn how to swim. He started scared of the water – he'd never really had any swimming lessons in NZ – but he became a real young swimmer in the next few months.

I was still swimming after my grandchildren were moved back to NZ without me being told. I swam throughout the time that my ex went to NZ for christmas and told me, on his return, that we'd finished. I swam during my CT which identified my brain aneurysm. I swam almost right up until I ended up in hospital in April 2014.

Then I stopped swimming.

In the last 3 years, since my brain aneurysm surgery and my stroke, I have had a few swims – at the Dolphins Health Precinct in Redcliffe I swam up to 40km and had weekly aqua classes for a few months. The fitness carer from CBRT had come with me and I joined the gym, but I only stuck to it for a few months. Depression controls you. At the Bethania Retirement Village where I moved to mid-2016 I joined the aqua class at Kingston pool – the only one I could find around this area which was covered. After my extreme depression caused by the retirement village (different story) I moved out. I'm now in Eagleby. It's not a good place – maybe that will be in my next blog – and their swimming pool (with aqua class) is outside. I haven't been there.

What's a goal? Mine was – is – swimming at Vanuatu. I would have to wait a year if I wanted to swim in the races. Perhaps, for that long time, my brain would mess up again. Forget Vanuatu. Forget swimming. Forget forget forget.

The people interviewed on Four Corner felt the same way that I do, but for different reasons. They're a long younger than me. What's a goal? I still have mine. I need to remember it.

Note 1: The Hamilton Municipal Pool was built in 1912. 100 years later, in 2012 it was closed for fear of safety. The HCC voted in 2015 to demolish it. Very sad.

Note 2: I found a Stuff article in Hamilton, NZ dated 17 February 2014. It seems that Hugh Speirs, who used to have the first Hamilton ice skating rink, is proposing a new one. This will be looked at in a future blog.