Kāpiti Coast commuter rail campaigner Cr Gwynn Compton has been supplied an Official Information Act response in which Transport Minister Phil Twyford has ruled out support for rail electrification north of Waikanae and suggested people catch buses for upwards of an hour to Waikanae instead.

Instead of rail electrification, Mr Twyford suggests commuters from Levin catch a bus to Waikanae, a trip that would take almost twice as long as a train journey. This means the growing number of Wellington-bound commuters moving into the region will continue to drive their cars and clog up Waikanae’s commuter carparking and Wellington’s roads.

“We’re seeing a rapid increase in Wellingtonians choosing to call Kāpiti and Horowhenua home while still commuting into Wellington for work. This is why both the National and Green parties have announced they would fast-track rail electrification and double tracking to Ōtaki in the next term of Government. Labour now risks getting stranded on the platform if they don’t get onboard with rail electrification soon,” says Gwynn Compton.

In the four years pre-COVID-19, there were 323,000 more boardings and alightments at Waikanae – a 61 percent increase. This increase was reflected in the commuter carparking in Waikanae overflowing each weekday morning as a stream of cars arrived from further north, causing issues for local residents and businesses.

“While COVID-19 has brought some temporary relief in terms of capacity, it’s vital we don’t waste this extra time. We need Wellington’s commuter rail infrastructure and services to be extended north of Waikanae as quickly as possible. Electrification and double tracking are the best way to ensure the fast growing community of commuters in northern Kāpiti and Horowhenua can easily access fast, frequent, reliable, and climate friendly commuter rail services.”

Phil Twyford’s proposed solution – a bus service from Levin to Waikanae – could take upwards of an hour, nearly twice as long as the same journey by train or car. As a result, commuters will continue to take their cars and clog up Waikanae’s scarce commuter carparking and Wellington’s already overcrowded roads, as well as creating more fossil fuel emissions.

“Labour needs to join their Parliamentary colleagues and get onboard with the plan outlined by the Kāpiti-Horowhenua Commuter Rail Campaign and prioritise rail electrification and double tracking north of Waikanae,” says Mr Compton.

Those wanting more information on the Kāpiti-Horowhenua Commuter Rail Campaign can visit www.kapitihorowhenuarail.co.nz

Right now there are plenty of yellow kōwhai blossoms around that tui are feeding from. Unsurprisingly, kōwhai is the Maori word for yellow. (Roger Brent Smith photo)

By Kiwi4Justice: These are unprecedented times in history around the world and in New Zealand right now. Deeply troubling things occurring that just make no rational sense. Is there something else going on behind the scenes with the global COVID-19 pandemic? It’s a very strong word to use, but is it treason? It’s a deadly serious […]

Jacinda Ardern’s COVID Treason — Rangitikei Environmental Health Watch

Yesterday we filed a formal complaint alleging that Mr Wayne Maxwell — who according to the last published Kapiti Coast District Council Annual Report is paid a salary of $310,000 per annum — inter alia, has willfully:

• Breached provisions of the Local Government Act

• Breached Section 14 of the Bill of Rights Act

• Breached Section 27 of the Human Rights Act

• Abetted the defamation of a member of the public.

Watch this space.

No one writes about deceit and subterfuge so dramatically, authoritatively or perceptively … to read A Spy Among Friends is a bit like climbing aboard a runaway train in terms of speed and excitement. –Daily Mail Book of the Week

Reads like a thriller

By Roger Childs

Ben Macintyre is to spy writing what John Le Carré is to spy writing. The essential difference is that whereas Le Carré pens fiction, McIntyre’s writing is all true. Many reviewers have commented that Macintyre’s books read like thrillers and compare the author to Ian Fleming, Graham Greene and Le Carré.

He has written many book on spies and in “A Spy Among Friends” he focuses on the greatest and most infamous double agent of all time – Kim Philby. For 30 years he virtually fooled everybody from his wives and close friends to MI6 and the CIA. This was a man who was utterly charming in social situations, had superb skills in recruiting spies and managing surveillance operations, and won the admiration and respect of the intelligence communities on both sides of the Atlantic. That was until 1951 when Philby tipped off Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean that the net was closing and it was time for them to head for Moscow. After this there was suspicion, but no proof, that he was The Third Man.

The ace of spies

Kim Philby had the classic establishment upbringing that opened the door to working in the secret service. He was from an upper class family, went to a public school and Cambridge, and was a popular member of the London clubs. With this background, he was regarded as a jolly good chap and seemingly above suspicion. MI6 had no hesitation in giving him a job in the late 1930s. 

He had become a communist while he was at university in 1933 and spent time as a journalist for The Times in the Spanish Civil War. The Russians recruited him in the mid-1930s and his first wife was an Austrian communist. During World War Two, once the Russians became a German enemy, MI6 and Philby’s focus was on defeating fascism. However in the cold war that followed he was highly successful in undermining every British and American initiative in support of anti-communist groups in the Soviet bloc. He sent hundreds of brave men and women to their deaths without any remorse.

Wherever Philby went he was highly popular and women found him very attractive, He has four wives and many affairs. After the defections of Burgess and Maclean, MI5 and the FBI were convinced that Philby was The Third Man, but he always denied it. He was sacked from the secret service, but MI6 led by Nicholas Elliott stood by the man. He was cleared by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and in November 1955 Philby invited the press to his mother’s flat in London where he gave a virtuoso performance of convincing lying. Elliott worked hard to get Philby reinstated and eventually succeeded in getting him a posting in Beirut.

The talented Nicholas Elliott

He had the same upper class credentials as Philby and was his closest friend. Elliott was very successful as a spymaster for MI6 and rose quickly through the ranks. In postings to the Netherlands, Istanbul, Berne, Vienna and Beirut he performed brilliantly for his masters and like Philby was very popular with his colleagues. 

The friends shared a liking for cricket, parties where they drank prodigious amounts of alcohol, and off-colour jokes. Elliott was Philby’s greatest supporter and, needless to say, was shattered by revelations of the latter’s duplicity and treason.

A wonderful read

Ben Macintyre has produced a classic with “A Spy Among Friends: Philby and the Great Betrayal”. He has done an enormous amount of research to produce this enthralling analysis and description of the life of the master double agent and his friends, notably Nicholas Elliott and American James Angleton. 

In just 286 pages he covers this amazingly complex but fascinating story of friendship, arrogance, ambition, stupidity and betrayal. The text is backed up with a number of photos, a detailed index and comprehensive footnotes. Highly recommended.

by Geoffrey Churchman

It would be hard to justify the accolade of the most influential guitar player in history being applied to anyone other than Jimi Hendrix.

Although born in Seattle USA, it was the four years from the time he arrived in London in 1966 to his death at the age of 27 in the same city four years later (from barbiturate intoxication) that an astonishing musical legacy was created.

He quickly transformed the nascent rock and blues music scene in London by demonstrating where the electric guitar and its accoutrements could be taken and influenced many contemporary players like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore and Pete Townshend. He wasn’t just a genius guitar player but composed many classic songs which nearly every budding guitar player still studies and many bands cover. He fully embraced the likewise nascent psychedelic era and his stage shows were often flamboyant with flashy tricks like playing behind his back and with his teeth.

But his interest wasn’t only in rock, he was interested in more grandiose orchested sonic creations and that direction is likely where he would have ventured had he lived.

Half a century on his influence on rock guitar around the world is just as strong and his recordings are much listened to and studied.

by Geoffrey Churchman

Parishioners at the now demolished Catholic church in Waikanae (see this post) know it was named for Our Lady of Fatima so this movie on the events of 1917 in Portugal will have extra interest for them.

Fatima was a typical rural Portuguese small town in 1917 and the country by that stage was involved in World War One on the British side. The mayor regularly addressed gatherings in the town square to announce the names of local fallen or missing soldiers in the conflict.

On 13 May 1917, three local children, Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, while guarding their families’ sheep in the Cova da Iria reported that they had seen visions of a “lady dressed in white” and shining with a bright light believed by the Catholic Church to be the Virgin Mary. The children claimed to have seen the Marian apparition on six occasions; they said the last would be 13 October 1917 and an estimated 70,000 pilgrims went to the site to see for themselves. Many (but not all) in the crowd reported what has been referred to as the Miracle of the Sun, when the sun behaved quite unusually.

The following year a small chapel was built on the site and was subsequently enclosed within a large basilica and sanctuary, part of a complex including a hotel and other facilities. In 1930, the statue of Our Lady in the Chapel of Apparitions was crowned by the Vatican.

Two of the childtren were victims of the influenza pandemic which spread in 1918 but the oldest, Lucia, went on to become a nun and lived until 2005.

Despite all this, the Catholic Church has never formally proclaimed acceptance of the events at Fatima, merely stating that they are “worthy of belief” and its adherents can decide for themselves.

The movie portrays the environment of the era quite well, and the drama of the disbelieving reaction the children get from not only their families but authorities is quite believable.

The beginning of the film is in 1989 as Professor Nicols (Harvey Keitel) visits Sister Lucia (Sonia Braga), now an octogenarian, at her convent. The professor is a skeptic, but for his new book project he needs to question Lucia about what she experienced in 1917. Nothing about the revelations conflicted with Church teachings, indeed endorsed them, which in turn raises the issue of how much existing teachings which the children were aware of influenced their descriptions.

These are the intriguing considerations which will appeal to Catholics, but all viewers get an endearing tale and Stephanie Gil, although a few years older than the real Lucia was at the time, is a good actress; in fact all the performances and cinematography are good.

Fatima (113 minutes) is screening at the Shoreline.

Comment from a reader:

It will be remembered that in the histrionic tirade aimed at you by Councillors Prvanov and Holborow in August they claimed there were ‘racial overtones’ in the mention of the Taj Mahal of Kapiti or Kaj, which only demonstrated the ridiculous nature of their statements.

One might find Mr Gurunathan’s use of the word ‘gollywogman’ in his personal email address to be offensive, and likewise the by-line for his Kapiti News column, ‘notes from a corner dairy’. But have these grandstanding councillors ever complained about it?