Tony Sutorius: Documentary Film-Maker
Our guest speaker this week was Tony Sutorius, well-known to the club as the partner of Tanya Woodcock and the father of our exchange student, Theo.
Tony runs a film-making company called Unreal Films. He started by making a documentary in 1994 about firefighting but has since directed feature films and other documentaries. He has specialised in making films about elections, which in themselves have encouraged and promoted sound democratic processes.
His most recent doco is about the Independence Referendum in Bougainville, which was held in 2019.
Tony reviewed the often ghastly history of Bougainville Island, the largest in the Solomons. It was a German colony in the 19th century, then passed into Australian administration during WW1, and was added to PNG for governance purposes. It was under Japanese, then US occupation during WW2. When PNG was granted independence in 1975, Bougainville was deemed to be part of PNG.
Things turned nasty in the 1980s as a result of a dispute over the Panguna Copper mine, an enormously profitable enterprise owned largely by Rio Tinto. The local people saw little benefit from the mine, which was an environmental disaster.
An insurrection and civil war led to the mine’s closure in 1988. PNG forces regained control in the early 1990s. New Zealand sent an (unarmed) peacekeeping force to the Island which succeeded in gaining the trust of the locals and paved the way for a peace accord and undertaking to hold an independence referendum within 20 years. (See below)
The Referendum finally took place in November 2019, under the supervision of the NZ Electoral Commission. The vote was 98% in favour of independence from PNG, deemed to be a fair and credible result and its implementation is in the hands of a group called the “Melanesian Way”.
Tony filmed his 40-minute documentary singlehandedly and the narration was in pigin. Its intent was to cement trust in the voting process inside and outside the country, and for the education of people everywhere.
This was a fascinating address which could have been much longer. We should invite Tony back to show us the full film and answer more questions.
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Proposed parking meters down Main Road, Tawa
Copied from a Facebook post: Your Voice Counts On The Proposal For Paid Parking
Wellington City Council (WCC) have opened their consultation on the Long-Term Plan. This runs from Friday 12 April to midnight Sunday 12 May 2024. It is advised that you read the consultation document as it covers important decisions on Water, Waste, Investments and other key proposals, one of which is a proposal to introduce paid parking in the suburbs. You can find further information and a submission form here: www.letstalk.wellington.govt.nz...... Please remember to be kind in your submissions – councillors are more likely to respond to positive and well-defined responses. Tawa Business Group has heard plenty of people who are strongly against introducing paid parking and we want to make sure that WCC hears your voices too. These stories may help you with your submission.
• These are already difficult times with the high cost of living and an increasing number of local redundancies, this is an extra charge that people cannot afford.
• The suburbs should not be subsidising the income shortfall from removing car parks in the CBD. Money raised in the suburbs should be used for local investment.
• Tawa has a different demographic than the CBD. Many older and less able people rely on the services that the suburb provides and being able to park easily and directly outside their destination is important for them being able to leave their homes and reduce feelings of isolation.
• The proposal for paid parking does not follow the 2020 Parking policy that says that paid parking will be introduced if occupancy is often over 85%, turnover is low and non-compliance is high.
Our three Northern ward Councillors all voted against the proposal in February but they lost on a vote of 10:7. Councillors changed their minds about reducing hours in swimming pools and libraries so they can change their minds about this too BUT only if you submit your feedback. The more submissions we make, the less likely it is to happen.
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